Hello!
My name is Judy, and I love both teaching and learning languages. I majored in German as an undergraduate, and I lived in Germany for more than three years, both in the North (in the city of Kiel) and in the South (in Munich/Muenchen). I returned from Germany to the United States to earn my master’s degree in teaching English as a second/foreign language. Over all, I have taught ESL (English as a Second Language) and German more than 10 years, in Germany, Central America, and the United States. I have taught and tutored students/clients ranging in ages from 16-80+, in a variety of settings: one-on-one, in small groups, at private universities, public universities, and refugee centers. In addition, I am also fluent in Spanish, after living more than two years with local families in Panama and Nicaragua.
I enjoy breaking down a language into easily understood chunks or blocks of information, so that my students/clients can solidly build on this information.
Probably the best story I can share regarding my language teaching/tutoring is the following:
While in Nicaragua, I adopted a nine-year-old boy, who moved back to the US with me. He didn’t know a word of English before entering the third grade in the American school system. He was in a bilingual program for only one semester, when I enrolled him into an English-only classroom later that fall. His principal was against my transitioning him so soon, but I was confident about the work he and I were doing together at home. His fourth grade teacher said she had never seen a student transition so smoothly before, after only six months in a bilingual program. The hard work my son, Carlos, and I put into his mastering the English language “paid off,” and it can for you too!
I look forward to working with you and/or your son or daughter, whether it’s in German, Spanish, or English as a second/foreign language.
